United Principalities

The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, also known as the Romanian United Principalities, was the official name of Romania following the 1859 election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince or domnitor of both territories. On February 5, 1862 (January 24 OS) the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia formally united to create the United Principalities. Alongside Transylvania, the principalities became the core of the Romanian nation state^[1]. A new constitution came into effect in 1866 giving the country the official name Romania, and following the establishment of a monarchy on March 26, 1881 it became the Kingdom of Romania.

Background

As a historical term designating the pre-Union Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, sometimes including the Principality of Transylvania, the term "Romanian Principalities" dates back to the beginnings of modern Romanian history in the mid 19th century.¹ It was subsequently used by Romanian historians as an alternative to the much older term "Romanian Lands". English use of "Romanian Principalities" is documented from the second half of the 19th century.

In the period between the late 18th century and the 1860s, Danubian Principalities was used, a term that sometimes included Serbia, but not Transylvania. In contrast, use of "Romanian Principalities" sometimes included Transylvania but never Serbia.

History

The aftermath of the Russian Empire's defeat in the Crimean War brought the 1856 Treaty of Paris, which started a period of common tutelage for the Ottomans and a Congress of Great Powers – (the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the Austrian Empire, Prussia, and, although never again fully, Russia. While the Moldavia-Wallachia unionist cause, which had come to dominate political demands, was viewed with sympathy by the French, Russians, Prussians, and Sardinians, it was rejected by the Austrian Empire, and viewed with suspicion by Great Britain and the Ottomans.^[2] Negotiations amounted to an agreement over a minimal and formal union; however, elections for the ad hoc divans of 1859 profited from an ambiguity in the text of the final agreement, which, while specifying two thrones, did not preventing the same person from occupying both and ushered in the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as Domnitor of the United Principalities from 1862 onwards.

Although internationally recognized only for the period of Cuza's rule^[2], the union was cemented by Cuza's unsanctioned interventions in the text of previous organic laws. In addition, the circumstances of his deposition in 1866, when the rapid election of Prussian fief leader Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who had the backing of an increasingly important Prussia, and the Austro-Prussian War made measures against the union impossible.

Following the 1878 war of independence, Romania shook off formal Ottoman rule, but clashed with its Russian ally over its request for the Bujak (southern Bessarabia) region. Ultimately, Romania was awarded Northern Dobruja in exchange for southern Bessarabia. A Kingdom of Romania subsequently emerged in 1881.

The reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza

Alexandru Ioan Cuza took steps to unify the administration of the two principalities and gain international recognition for the union. He also adopted several reforms, including the secularization of church lands, free primary education, a French-inspired civil and penal code as well as army and limited land reforms. Opposition from the large landowner-dominated parliament to the latter resulted in a coup by Cuza in 1864. He subsequently instituted authoritarian rule but his popular support, strong at the time of the coup, gradually waned as the land reform failed to bring prosperity to the peasant majority. Cuza was forced to abdicate in 1866 by the two main political groups, the Conservatives and Liberals, who represented the interests of former large landowners. Although the event sparked some anti-unionist turmoil in Cuza's native province of Moldavia, it was quickly suppressed by the central authorities.

The reign of Carol I as Prince

The new governing coalition appointed Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as the new ruler of Romania in a move initially rejected by the European powers but later accepted. In the first year of Carol's rule, Romania adopted its first constitution. The instrument provided for a hereditary constitutional monarchy, with a Parliament elected through censitary suffrage although the country remained under Ottoman suzerainty. Carol was not unanimously accepted, and a rise in republican sentiment culminatinated with an uprising in Ploieşti in 1870 and a revolt in Bucharest in 1871, both of which were quelled by the army.

In April 1877, in the wake of a new Russo-Turkish war, Romania signed a convention by which Russian troops were allowed to pass through Romanian territory in their advance towards the Ottoman Empire. On May 9, the Romanian parliament declared the independence of the principality, and joined the war on the Russian side. After several Romanian victories south of the Danube and the ultimate victory of the Russian-led side in the war, the European powers recognized Romania's independence under the 1878 Treaty of Berlin. Nevertheless, Romania was made to exchange Southern Bessarabia for Northern Dobruja, and allow non-Christians living in Romania access to Romanian citizenship. In 1881, the country's parliament proclaimed Romania a kingdom.

References

See also

• Danubian Principalities
• Romanian Old Kingdom